"Just Like Heaven" by The Cure

Song#:  3287
Date:  10/10/1987
Debut:  94
Peak:  40
Weeks:  19
Genre:  Alternative Rock



Pop Bits:  The Cure's US audience had been growing over their previous couple of albums, but they were still looking for a bigger breakthrough. Their seventh effort, the double-LP Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me would do a lot to meet that goal. Its first single, "Why Can't I Be You?," got them near the top half of the Pop chart (#54). Then this next single nabbed the band their first Pop Top 40 hit (if just barely). It would also reach #28 at Dance. Before this single even came out, the album had already reached gold status. Later in '88 it would become their first to go platinum.

ReduxReview:  This should have been a much bigger hit. With alt rock starting to meld into the mainstream, this was an excellent pop-leaning tune that should have done just as well as R.E.M.'s Top 10 "The One I Love." The way the song built from the beginning by adding instruments and memorable riffs was terrific and it was capped off by Robert Smith blurting out "show me show me show me!" Just that first minute of the song should have made it a hit. The rest of the tune is just icing on the cake. For the pop world, maybe the only drawback to the song was that it didn't have a definitive chorus or hook. However, this dreamy track didn't need it. The whole thing was one giant swirling hook that took you to that dizzying cliff overlooking the sea.

ReduxRating:  9/10

Trivia:  This was mainly written by the band's lead singer/songwriter Robert Smith with other band members contributing during the recording session. Smith has said that it was the best song he'd ever written and would most likely never write anything better. The lyrics painted a portrait of two lovers enjoying a day by the seaside, which may or may not have been a dream. It was inspired by Smith's girlfriend at the time Mary Poole. Poole would then appear in the song's video as a ghostly apparition. Smith and Poole would later marry in '88. They are still together.

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